This invention relates generally to the processing of handwritten content as digital data in electronic messaging, and specifically to an electronic messaging system for graphical (handwritten or handdrawn) email.
Electronic messaging is a general method for sending and receiving communications as digital data between computers on a network. The Internet has dramatically increased electronic messaging amongst millions of users on global data networks. Many different forms of electronic messaging are being used to send and receive communications in a wide variety of forms of structured and unstructured data. Businesses make extensive use of electronic messaging to conduct business communications and transactions between trading partners. Electronic mail (or email) is a popular form of electronic messaging for communications between users. Typical email messages are composed of typed text or a combination of typed text and text or graphical files that are attached to the email message and opened with the appropriate processor or viewer. As the popularity of the Internet continues to grow worldwide, more and more people numbering in the billions are expected to use email for communications.
Recent advances in technology and standards have expanded the types and forms of devices that can connect to the Internet. In addition to dial-up and online connections between users computers and servers that provide information services and email services, many types of other devices are being connected to the Internet for communications purposes, including personal digital assistants (PDAs), text messaging pagers, digital cellphones enabled with Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), advanced digital game machines, digital set top boxes for televisions, and even CPU-controlled household appliances. Many of these devices having Internet access do not require or are not adapted to use a keyboard for inputting data. While there are other types of input devices that enable handwritten or handdrawn input, such as touch sensitive screens, stylus pads, optical pens, etc., they have not been enabled for electronic messaging and other communication functions.
Handwritten or handdrawn input can be more convenient to use than a keyboard and, in many situations, would be uniquely necessary for certain types of communication. Many written language systems, such as Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Thai, Sanskrit, etc., use cursive or ideographic characters that are very difficult to input by an equivalent method via keyboard. For example, text input of the Japanese written language requires the use of simulated phonetic spelling methods (romanji, hiragana, and/or katakana) to select from thousands of possible kanji characters. Many mobile devices such as PDAs do not have keyboards due to their limited size and form, or would become cumbersome to use if a keyboard must be attached or if text must be entered by cursoring through displays of softkeys. Disabled or hospitalized people who have limited hand mobility may not be able to use a keyboard effectively. Current legal and financial institutions still rely heavily on the use of handwritten signatures to validate a person""s unique identity. And in many instances, people find it much easier to communicate an idea by drawing a picture, or prefer handwriting or drawing a picture as more personal or expressive communication than typing text on a keyboard.
There is thus a clear need for an electronic messaging system that allows people to communicate with their own handwriting or drawing, as contrasted to typed text. This need will continue to grow as the numbers of global users and Internet-connected devices increase. None of the current electronic messaging methods allow a user to compose, manipulate, store, send, receive, and view a handwritten or handdrawn email message.
In accordance with the present invention, an electronic messaging system, and related method, comprises a handwriting server component operable on a server computer on a network with an email host server for receiving an email message sent from a user and storing it for retrieval by a user to whom it is addressed, and a handwriting client component operable with an email client on a client computer for setting up a graphical data capture area into which a user can enter handwritten or handdrawn input through a suitable graphical input device, and for capturing the handwritten or handdrawn input as graphical data and sending it via the network to the server component for handling as an email message. The client component is also operable for setting up a graphical data viewing area for viewing the graphical data sent with an email message handled by the server component.
In another version of the invention, an electronic messaging device, and related method, comprises a handwriting messaging component operable in a web browser of a computer connected on a network for setting up a graphical data capture area into which a user can enter handwritten or handdrawn input through a suitable graphical input device, and for capturing the handwritten or handdrawn input as graphical data and sending it as an email message on the network. The handwriting messaging component can convert the graphical data to a GIF file that is attached to the email message and send the email message to a standard Internet email server. Alternatively, the handwriting messaging component can format the captured data as pixel data and send it to a handwriting server component of a server computer that can transmit it to a receiving computer enabled with a similar handwriting messaging component for retrieving the email message and viewing the pixel data as the corresponding handwritten or handdrawn image.
In the preferred embodiments, the handwriting messaging component is a Java applet downloadable to a web page for an email client of a standard web browser, or may be a Java plug-in application installed with the web browser. The graphical input device can be a touch screen, pen input device, stylus pad, or even a standard mouse. The handwriting messaging component sets up a drawing editor/viewer that allows the user to compose, manipulate, and view handwritten or handdrawn messages. The editor/viewer can include standard drawing tools such as those for line size, color, paper and border selection, circle and polygon shapes, spray paint, flood fill, color palette, undo and scrolling functions.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be described in further detail below, with reference to the following drawings: